Valve



G. C. SINGER Dec. 15, 1953 VALVE Filed May 3, 1951 INVENTOR Gem/2 C.SINGEE,

ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 15, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE VALVEGrover 0. Singer, Brownsville, Tex.

Application May 3, 1951, Serial No. 224,394

3 Claims. I 1

This invention relates to valves, and more particularly to a plungertype valve to be used in connection with oil well equipment.

An object of my invention is the provision of a valve in which themovable plunger head has a plurality of removable orifice dies to beselectively moved into position to permit flow of the oil through thevalve unit. These dies are in spaced relationship to one another so thatwhen one die orifice is alined with the inlet and outlet openings of thevalve body the other die is out of operative position.

Another object of the invention is to provide the valve body withremovable cover plates located on opposite sides of the flow passagewhereby a die when in its inoperative position may be inspected orremoved and replaced while a second die is in operative position. Thisconstruction prevents the necessity 01 a shut down of operation whenreplacing a worn die.

A further advantage of the device is that the movable member, 1. e. thereciprocable plunger is provided with appropriate channels forlubricating and sealing the plunger.

These and other objects and advantages will become apparent from thefollowing description of the present invention illustrated in theaccompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a sectional view taken on a vertical plane through thecenter of the device.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the valve head.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on line 33 of Fig. 2.

Similar reference characters represent similar parts in the severalfigures.

One of the major factors to be considered in the operation of oil wellequipment is the constant damage to those parts of the equipment whichconfront the flow of the conveyed fluid. The valves used in connectionwith the well superstructure are in constant need of repair andreplacement, due to the fact that grit and other.

foreign substance carried by the oil under terrific pressure inevitablycut out the orifice inserts, thereby reducing the operational efiiciencyof the valve and necessitating the complete shut down of the well inorder to carry out repair of the unit. The valve shown in Figure l ofthe drawv sections cast as an integral unit. The lower end I I of thevertical section is provided with a peripheral flange I2 having aplurality of apertures I3 angularly spaced therein. This permits theattachment of portion Ii to the discharge end of the well pipe. Theconveyed oil or gas enters the passage I4, the upper end of which isreduced to form a conical opening it. This conical opening accommodatesa complelnentary valve seat I6 which is press-fitted into the openingand provided with a reduced central orifice ll.

The upper end I 8 of vertical section it is of similar construction tothe above-described lower end. This too is provided with a peripheralflange I9 and appropriate bolt-receiving apertures 25 in order that theconveying pipe may be continued. The conical valve seat 2| provided onthe discharge end of the valve body tapers in the same direction as theinlet valve seat it. The valve seat is provided with a reduced centralorifice 22 which communicates with the center portion of the valve bodyby means of a funnel recess 23. The wide receiving end of recess 253permits proper operation of the valve without the absolute necessity ofperfect alinement between the valve head orifice and the dischargeorifice 22.

The horizontal section 24 of the valve body is basically a cylindricalsleeve having an opening extending completely therethrough and ofuniform diameter. The right-hand horizontal section 25 (as viewed inFigure 1) has its open end provided with a peripheral flange 2K5containing appropriate apertures to permit a cover cap 21 to be attachedby means of appropriate bolts 28 to properly seal the transversepassageway 29. The left-hand section 3!! is also provided with aperipheral flange 3| having spaced apertures therein to permit theattachment of the conical bonnet 32 and intermediate closure cap 33 bymeans of bolts 34, as shown in the drawmg.

It is pointed out that a convenient method of fabricating the valve unitis to weld nipples of drilling tube or pipe to opposite sides of a heavystock of steel and then rounding out the inside of the steel cylinderafter the welding has been completed.

A reciprocable valve head 35 fits within the transverse opening 29 andthis valve head is provided with a plurality of conical shaped openings36 to accommodate complementary insert dies 31. The preferredconstruction is shown in Fig. 1 which shows the use of two spacedinserts. It will of course be understood that the use of more than twoof these units would not be a departure from the invention.

The construction of dies 31 is basically similar to the removable valveseats. Each die is in the shape of a cone frustrum and is provided witha central orifice 38 and a funnel shaped connecting recess 39. As willbe seen from Fig. l of the drawing, the metering orifices I1, 38 and 22may respectively communicate without the. necessity of perfect alinementof the valve head due to the fact that the various funnel shapedrecesses will appropriately channel the oil or gas through theassociated elements.

The valve head is provided with a cylindrical stem 40 having an innerthreaded end 4| permitting the stem to rigidly engage the movable valvehead. The intermediate portion of the valve stem is of smoothcylindrical stock so that the stem can penetrate a central hub 42 formedin the closure plate 33. Hub 42 has an axial opening therein, thesurface of which is provided with an appropriate number of annularsealing rings 43' which permit the escape of oil from the valve body.

It will be noted that the outer end 44 of the valve bonnet 3! isprovided with a smooth axial opening which rotatably accommodates anoperating nut 45. A peripheral flange 46' prevents outward movement ofthe nut and the main body portion of nut 45 is provided with malethreads to cooperate with a female threaded section of hand wheel 47whereby the hand wheel and nut may be secured together for simultaneousrotation. The extreme outer portion 48 of the nut has a reduced threadedsection adapted to receive the lock nut 49 which bears against the outersurface of hand wheel 41 to firmly lock the hand wheel and nut together.Naturally nut 45 has a threaded aperture extending axially therethroughso that the outer threaded end 50 of the valve. stem may be received bythe operating nut. Thus it will be seen that rotation of the operatinghandle causes the valve stem to move laterally in a selected direction.

In order to prevent rotation of stem 40 (and accordingly valve head 35)I have incorporated the use of a key and key-way arrangement. Theparticular location of the key is not critical and for the purpose ofillustration I have provided the valve bonnet with a small apertureperpendicular to the axis of the operating stem. This aperture beingthreaded receives a threaded key which extends into the valve bonnethaving its innermost end received by a slot or key-way 52. With thisconstruction it is not possible for the valve stem to rotate with theoperating nut and therefore rotational movement of the nut is convertedinto reciprocating movement of the valve stem and valve head.

The important feature of this invention consists. in the provision of ameans to permit the inspection or removal of one of the valve head dies,and at the same time being assured that the other valve head die is inoperating position. Thus the operation of the well is not interruptedduring this inspection or repair procedure. To accomplish this end eachlateral wing of the horizontal section of the valve body is rovided withdiagonally opposed window openings. For example, the right-hand section25' has a lower opening 53 and an upper opening 53'.

Threaded studs 54 are formed integrally with the outer surface of thevalve body section and inspection plates 55 and 55' are used to coverthe window openings, especially during the inspection or replacementoperation. Each plate is provided with peripheral apertures alined withstuds 54 so that the plate may be clamped tightly against the outersurface of the valve body sleeve by tightening of the retaining nuts 56.Naturally the cover plates are arcuate in configuration in order toconform with the shape of the outer surface of the horizontal section ofthe valve body.

The left hand section 30 of the valve body is provided with identicalwindow openings 51 and 51.. Each of these openings is respectivelyclosed by a cover plate 58 and 58. Thus it will be seen that if the die3'! has been damaged by matter suspended in the flowing oil, the valvehead can be moved to the left so that die 31 is placed into operation.Cover plates 58 and 58 may then be removed to permit inspection of die37'. If replacement is required the die may be forced through opening 51by striking the upper surface with an appropriate tool inserted throughthe Window opening 51. A new die may then be inserted and cover plates58 and 5B replaced. The valve is then completely repaired withoutinterruption of the well operation, and naturally the same inspection orrepair treatment may be given die 31, primarily moving the valve head tothe right as shown in Fig. 1'.

In order to provide proper lubrication and adequate seal protection forthe movable valve head I have designed the plunger head as shown inFigures 2 and 3. First of all, a groove or recess 59 in the peripheralsurface of the valve head is provided and preferably extends in parallelrelationship to the axis of the unit. This groove is located on one sideof the receiving end of the spaced valve dies 37 and 31. A similargroove 59' is located on the opposite side of said receiving ends. Thesegrooves are each provided with an appropriate strip of sealing material,such as neoprene and prevent the possibility of the conveyed fluidby-passing the valve orifices.

Oneach side of the cylindrical valve head I show a number of overlappinggrooves also in parallel relationship to the axis of the unit. Grooves60 open into the free end of the valve head and extend slightly beyondthe transverse center of the unit. By the same token intermediategrooves 5| open into the same face of the valve head, and by extendingbeyond the center line of the valve head, overlap groove 60. Thisconstruction provides additional sealing effect and at the same timeadequately lubricates the periphery of the valve head so that theoperation of the valve is accomplished with ease.

It is to be noted that the sealing strips extend longitudinally of' thevalve head and are placed on opposite sides thereof. Each sealing stripis positioned slightly above the lower openings for the dies 37 andextend longitudinally of the valve head beyond the longitudinalextremities of the openin s. Grooves 60 and GI- extend longitudinally ofthe valve head above the scaling strips.

The form of the invention illustrated in the drawing shows one method ofassuring that the movable valve head is properly balanced. That portionof the interior of horizontal section 2:; not occupied by valve head 35,is completely filled with oil. The horizontal cavity at each side of thevalve head is supplied with line fluid. Each section has an opening 62which is connected by a conveying tube 83 to a small oil reservoir 64.This provides a small storage for oil and is connected directly into themain line by means of pipe 65 controlled by the proper shut-off valvearrangement 66. Identical communicating structure is located at bothsides of the valve head 35. It will of course be understood that thisarrangement could also be used to reciprocate the plunger-type valvehead 35 by use of a hydraulic pump. By relieving oil from one side ofthe valve head and pumping oil to the other side either valve die couldbe moved into operating position.

It will be appreciated that the conventional plunger-type valve isobjectionable due to the fact that any shut-down of operation isextremely costly and thus undesirable. The valve dies must be repairedor replaced frequently. For this reason a device such as shown anddescribed in this application provides a far more efiicient possibilityof equipment than is presently available. The unit can be quickly andeasily repaired and more important operation of the well is notinterrupted.

I claim:

1. A flow control valve unit comprising generally laterally intersectingsections, one of said sections comprising a main housing, a valvereciprocatingly mounted in said main housing, said valve having spacedtransverse openings formed therein, orifices mounted in each of saidopenings, second orifices mounted in the other of said laterallyintersecting sections, said valve being movable in said main housing soas to align any one of the orifices mounted therein with the orificesmounted in the other of said sections, each end of said valve forming anoil chamber with one end of said main housing, grooves formed in saidvalve extending generally longitudinally of said main housing, a stripof sealing material mounted in said grooves, additional grooves formedin said valve and extending generally longitudinally thereof, some ofsaid last named grooves being in overlapping relationship with other ofsaid last named grooves and some of said grooves communicating with theoil chamber formed at one end of said main housing and the other of saidgrooves communicating with the oil chamber formed at the other end ofsaid main housing.

2. A flow control valve unit comprising generally laterally intersectingsections, one of said sections comprising a main housing, a valvereciprocatingly mounted in said main housing, said valve having spacedtransverse openings formed therein, orifices mounted in each of saidopenings, second orifices mounted in the other of said laterallyintersecting sections, said valve being movable in said main housing soas to align any one of the orifices mounted therein with the orificesmounted in the other of said sections, each end of said valve formingwith one end of said one of said sections an oil chamber, grooves formedin said valve extending generally longitudinally of said main housing, astrip of sealing material mounted in said grooves, ad ditional groovesformed in said valve and extending generally longitudinally thereof,some of said last named grooves being in overlapping relationship withother of said last named grooves and some of said grooves communicatingwith the oil chamber formed at one end of said main housing and other ofsaid grooves communicating with the oil chamber formed at the other endof said main housing, means forming openings in said main housing,removable cover plates forming closures for said last named openings,said valve being movable in said main housing so as to align theopenings formed therein with the openings formed in said main housing.

3. A valve unit comprising intersecting sections, one of said sectionscomprising a main housing, a valve reciprocatingly mounted in saidhousing and having an opening formed therein, a second opening formed inanother of said sections, said valve being movable in said main housingso as to aline the first mentioned opening with the second mentionedopening, each end of said valve forming an oil chamber with one end ofsaid main housing, rooves formed in said valve extending generallylongitudinally thereof, a strip of sealing material mounted in saidgrooves, additional grooves formed in said valve and extending generallylongitudinally thereof, some of said last named grooves being inoverlapping relationship with other of said last named grooves and someof said last named grooves communicating with the oil chamber formed atone end of said main housing and the other of said last named groovescommunicating with the oil chamber formed on the other end of saidhousing.

GROVER C. SINGER.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 308,507 Maxwell Nov. 25, 1884 1,921,298 Lewis Aug. 8, 19331,925,366 Berggren Sept. 5, 1933 2,194,254 King Mar. 19, 1940 2,219,504Willis Oct. 29, 1940

